China's anti-corruption campaign gains $ 519 million a year

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Jan. 11, 2019, 7:49 AM GMT

By Associated Press

BEIJING ̵

1; More than 1,000 Chinese refugees who fled abroad were returned to the country last year, and there were more than 519 Millions of dollars of ill-gotten profits, said the ruling Communist Party on Friday in yet another victory in President Xi Jinping's years-long fight against corruption.

The party's anti-corruption watchdog said that among the 1,335 returned party members, 307 were party members or government employees. including five on a list of 100 most wanted Chinese corruption suspects handed over to Interpol.

These include: Xu Chaofan, the former manager of a bank branch of the Bank of China in Guangdong's southern province, suspected of embezzling $ 485 million, escaped to the United States 17 years ago; and Yao Jinqi, a former deputy district chief who was extradited from Bulgaria and the first refugee from a European Union country was sent home.

China says its four-year-old campaign to recover economic criminals and recover assets has more than reached a total of more than 5,000 refugees.

The operation, known as "Sky Net," marked an expansion of Xi's anti-corruption campaign, launched nearly eight years ago, which came to power more than eight years ago.

The campaign is largely popular and has contributed to Xi China's strongest leader for decades. Critics say it has also been used to eradicate Xi's authority and undermine the rule of law, since it is headed by the Communist Party and not by the government.

Last year, 621,000 people were punished for corruption, including 51 officials at or near provincial and ministerial level, according to the Party Control Authority, the Central Disciplinary Inspectorate.

In addition to arresting and seizing assets, garbage bunkers have also taken extreme measures, including the demolition of 1,000 illegally built luxury villas in the northern Chinese Qingling Mountains, according to a recent documentary on state television.